tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17859011.post5418580414336507019..comments2024-03-29T00:57:56.876+00:00Comments on Evangelical Textual Criticism: James Royse's Scribal Habits Finally HereP.J. Williamshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04388225485348300613noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17859011.post-22976338281616148932008-01-14T23:04:00.000+00:002008-01-14T23:04:00.000+00:00"In science, when theory and facts conflict, given..."In science, when theory and facts conflict, given a large enough body of reliable facts, theory loses, and we must come up with something new."<BR/>–Michael Tomasello, Ph.D.<BR/>Director, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary AnthropologyThe White Manhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06732782601569135839noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17859011.post-44112163515579420472008-01-11T14:46:00.000+00:002008-01-11T14:46:00.000+00:00"The principle lectio brevior lectio potior, all t..."The principle lectio brevior lectio potior, all things being equal, is trustworthy."<BR/><BR/>And apparently, not susceptible to disproof.<BR/><BR/>"This is a highly nuanced principle."<BR/><BR/>Too nuanced, with too many caveats, to be of any value. It is past time it was retired.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17859011.post-5853677436291690222008-01-11T14:06:00.000+00:002008-01-11T14:06:00.000+00:00The principle lectio brevior lectio potior, all th...The principle lectio brevior lectio potior, all things being equal, is trustworthy. This is a highly nuanced principle. Those favoring MSS that many times have the longer readings should not abandon the canon, and should apply the canon critically, e.g., MSS or groups of MSS that are prone to omission, if such can be proven, are not protected by the canon. Neither are shorter readings to be preferred when they have been reasonably caused by homoioteleuton, harmonization, attraction, deletion of tautology or repetition, or that which is otherwise unnecessary to keep the sense simple and precise, including articles, pronouns, and prepositions.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17859011.post-21592795242078145552008-01-10T22:25:00.000+00:002008-01-10T22:25:00.000+00:00"Does Royse come to any conclusions about scribal ..."Does Royse come to any conclusions about scribal habits that he feels is applicable pretty much across the board to the papyrus MSS he studied?"<BR/><BR/>I haven't read the book yet, but I don't expect there will be much change as to the general conclusions; like the observation about omissions you refer to, that "the general tendency during the early period of textual transmission was to omit," so that "other things equal one should prefer the longer reading." <BR/><BR/>A further interesting question is whether such omissions were accidental or intentional. I am now reading Kyong Shick Min's study, Die früheste Überlieferung des Matthäusevangeliums (bis zum 3./4. JH.) (ANTF 34; Berlin/New York: De Gruyter, 2005) of early papyrus witnesses to Matthew's Gospel. I am halfway thru, and I have just today read the chapter on P37. The MS contains Mt 26:19-37 and 26:37-52. There are 11 omissions (in a collation against the "Ausgangstext" in NA27), ten of which are "kleine Omissionen." Min concludes "Bei Omissionen ist auch bemerkenswert, dass sie mehr als doppelt so häufig vorkommen wie Additionen, was bei alten Papyri üblich ist. Omissionen weisen im Allgemeinen auf unbewusste Flüchtigkeit bzw. Nachlässigkeit hin. Denn ein Schreiber, der verändern will, wird sich kaum die Mühe machen, den anderen Sinn nur durch Omissionen herbeizuführen. Omissionen sind das Ergebnis eines schnellen Schreibflusses eines Schreibers" (p. 97).<BR/> <BR/>So, the scribes were quicker in the early days :-)Tommy Wassermanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10674769923361035721noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17859011.post-30346054293721111002008-01-10T22:06:00.000+00:002008-01-10T22:06:00.000+00:00PH: "Would this have been a reference to it as 'fo...PH: "Would this have been a reference to it as 'forthcoming' sometime in the 1990s?"<BR/><BR/>I think it was references to his dissertation and to his article on Scribal Habits in the Text of the NT in Contemporary Research. I was probably around 2000. I think I joined the list 1998.Tommy Wassermanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10674769923361035721noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17859011.post-62361872642682690972008-01-10T18:54:00.000+00:002008-01-10T18:54:00.000+00:00Does anyone know if its been confirmed that Eerdma...Does anyone know if its been confirmed that Eerdmans is publishing a paperback edition for less?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17859011.post-5983887152067226922008-01-10T17:03:00.000+00:002008-01-10T17:03:00.000+00:00$360??? ok, I can forget it then :)$360??? ok, I can forget it then :)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17859011.post-33973388058829911422008-01-10T14:36:00.000+00:002008-01-10T14:36:00.000+00:00Does Royse come to any conclusions about scribal h...Does Royse come to any conclusions about scribal habits that he feels is applicable pretty much across the board to the papyrus MSS he studied?<BR/><BR/>I see on web page with a description of the book that Royse finds - just as Colwell did - that scribes tend to omit rather than add, though I wonder whether omissions or additions were corrected more. If the answer is the former, or it comes out a wash, shouldn't the shorter reading canon be abandoned once and for all? And how different will our NT look if we revise it without this canon?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17859011.post-60492541921800113372008-01-10T09:49:00.000+00:002008-01-10T09:49:00.000+00:00Would this have been a reference to it as 'forthco...Would this have been a reference to it as 'forthcoming' sometime in the 1990s?Peter M. Headhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03379103292621457026noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17859011.post-19759950817017621192008-01-09T23:24:00.000+00:002008-01-09T23:24:00.000+00:00Pete,I just got nostalgic – I remember that my fir...Pete,<BR/><BR/>I just got nostalgic – I remember that my first reply to you ever on the old TC-list was giving you the reference to Royse's work on scribal habits (you were writing an article on that subject).Tommy Wassermanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10674769923361035721noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17859011.post-3641327327992628812008-01-09T23:20:00.000+00:002008-01-09T23:20:00.000+00:00Okay, I can of course volunteer for the chapter on...Okay, I can of course volunteer for the chapter on P72, since that is the MS I have worked in detail with (and Royse discusses with me in that chapter). <BR/><BR/>The book, however, is just out and very very expensive ($360 I think). I got a complimentary copy to review for Svensk Exegetisk Årsbok (SEÅ).Tommy Wassermanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10674769923361035721noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17859011.post-21890218287196267542008-01-09T22:50:00.000+00:002008-01-09T22:50:00.000+00:00Thanks Tommy,Shall we organise some sort of chapte...Thanks Tommy,<BR/>Shall we organise some sort of chapter-by-chapter discussion of this?Peter M. Headhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03379103292621457026noreply@blogger.com